Cut social care and the NHS bleeds – NHS Providers responds to the ADASS budget survey
13 July 2016
- Key messages include that social care funding costs have increased, alongside an increasingly older population with care needs
- The social care precept that was added to council tax bills has raised £380m, however the areas with most need are raising the least amounts of cash
- Cuts to social care have an impact across health and social care; 85% of those surveyed believed that the NHS is under pressure
Directors responding to the survey recognised the importance of integration and prevention, however due to the budget squeeze, social care leaders are finding it harder to prioritise statutory duties for those with the greatest need, against investing in prevention services. Only 4% will be spent by local authorities on prevention this financial year.
Commenting on the findings of this year’s Association of the survey, Saffron Cordery, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, said:
“These findings tell it as it is: that the crisis in social care funding continues and that this impacts on the quality of care people receive. it is brave and right to do so.
“The variations between local authority areas in terms of budget, coupled with the fact that the social care precept will not raise sufficient income in the areas of most need, makes finding a solution to the funding of social care even more important.
“There is an extricable link between social care and healthcare: when you cut social care provision, the NHS bleeds. This is not about ‘health versus social care’ – what is important is that we all pull in the same direction, and invest in services for today and for the future. Transforming services is the only way we can stand a chance of sustaining the levels of health and care that the public is entitled to expect.”